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May 04, 2016

This blog post was changed on May 9 to insert the word "building"where underlined in the third paragraph, and also to replace the word "rooms" with "lodging suites" as underlined. The changes add specificity to owner Mike Deep's proposal to town meeting.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Town meeting voters were advised on Wednesday to approve a zoning change to allow a developer to put a hotel of up to 50,000 square feet (roughly 50 individual rooms) alongside the Waubeeka Golf Links.

The Planning Board split 3-2 to make the recommendation, establishing the square-foot limit on the hotel, as they sought to deal with course owner Michael Deep's threat that he will otherwise close the scenic 18-hole public golf course and seek to build affordable housing there.

Its members did so after the developer’s attorney, Stanley Parese, refused to offer any specific building size limitation his client would accept. In addition, Parese began a meeting of the planning board by declaring his client would move for a vote at town meeting to approve a building of unlimited size and roomslodging suites on 10 acres – no matter what the Planning Board recommended.

As a result, the town’s voters for now are faced with attending a May 17 town meeting with conflicting advice from the developer and the town’s elected planning board on how to deal with Deep’s threat to close the 207-acre golf course and terminate its approximately 40 employees.

Deep wants to be free to pitch to developers a building of any size on 10 acres; the planning board majority wants a cap at about 50,000 square feet. Deep purchased the course for $1.2 million about two years ago. The South Williamstown parcel has been cited by a state report as one of the most scenic areas in Massachusetts because of its expansive views of the 3,491-foot Mount Greylock, the state’s highest peak. It lies at the intersection of two major entries to Williamstown -– state Route 43 and U.S. Route 7.

The language recommended by the 3-2 vote would allow a developer to increase total buildings on the 207-acre site to 60,000 square feet by setting aside 40 acres under a perpetual conservation restriction. That would be in addition to 67 acres which must be put in conservation restriction to do any hotel development on a 10-acre parcel near Route 7 and the Five Corners. There is already about 10,000 square feet of golf buildings on the site, so the hotel would be capped at roughly 50,000 square feet.

The size restriction is important to Deep, because he has said he will seek an experienced developer to finance and build the hotel and he is concerned about presenting a town-approval with size flexibility. But the planning-board majority, in turn, does not trust that the result would be a hotel that is economically viable yet not oversized for the viewshed.

Some of the discussion at Wednesday's meeting was contentious and at some points personal, as the planning board settled into a familiar pattern of 3-2 advocacy, with Sarah Gardner, Elizabeth McGowan and Ann K. McCallum voting in favor of the size-limited hotel and D. Chris Winters and Amy C. Jeschawitz voting against it (because they wanted no size limitation).

For example, at one point Winters said a size limit on the building would “kill an economically viable opportunity for the site . . . and I think that was the intention from day one.” At that point and later, each of the three planners voting for the 50,000 square-foot restriction refuted his statement, saying they have consistently supported a hotel of some size as part of a plan to keep the golf course open and support open space. The board majority have argued for more information from Deep in order to assess the balance between a viable size and the affect on the views and environment at the town’s key gateway.

“There is not a number that I am going to utter,” Parese said. He said it is too early to assess what size is needed. “The square footage ends up being an artificial impediment” to that process, he said.

Going into Wednesday’s meeting, planners had hoped to reach a 5-0 consensus on some recommendation to voters on how to deal with a “Citizens Petition” to switch zoning of the golf course from 2.5-acre residential lots. The petition, if adopted by a two-thirds majority of those voting at town meeting, would allow for a “country inn” containing “guest units without kitchens.” That language would appear to permit multiple-room suites and non-kitchen cooking facilities typically found in fractional or time-share facilities. However, last week, Deep’s attorney said earlier language citing time-share ownership had been withdrawn.

Debates on Wednesday ranged across such issues as whether:

The language adopted by the three-vote majority represented a compromise.

The planning board, in seeking a site limit, was doing work that should be left to the zoning board during special permitting hearings.

A 50,000-square-foot hotel is large enough to be financially viable.

The board’s consideration of a zoning change for Williams College to build a 100-room hotel on Spring Street has been more deferential than treatment afforded Deep’s Waubeeka plan.

It is possible to find a balance between economic development and perpetual open-space protection.

Among key points of testimony or statements by board members:

It would be a “significant disaster” to vote down the project, said developer and Finance Committee member Charles Fox. The FinCom is slated to hear Deep’s economic arguments for the project at a meeting on Monday, May 9, the day before a May 10 local election to, among other things, choose two members of the planning board.

Selectman Hugh Daley said he thought a hotel of 120 rooms on 10 acres would be a “good plan.” He called it fair and reasonable.

“A compromise is not a compromise if it kills this proposal,” said former school principal and former selectman David Rempell. He said it would be “mind boggling” if the planning board did not recommend the hotel project.

The 50,000-square-foot building limit “is in fact a real compromise . . that will create a reasonably sized hotel,” said attorney Sherwood Guernsey, who lives alongside the golf course. “The beauty of the town is a major economic driver.”

“There is enough concern about building size that the metric [square footage] matters,” said Selectman Andrew Hogeland. A less-than-unanimous vote will “feed the narrative” that the project should be reworked, he added.

“I think this process is flawed and . . . at some levels I am embarrassed,” said Selectman Jane Patten. She had urged the Planning Board not to put a size restriction on the hotel building other than 120 "guest units."

"This whole process has practically been run by the developer and his lawyer," said South Williamstown resident Susan Schneski. "I just think the tail has been wagging the dog."

May 03, 2016

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Members of the Williamstown Planning Board were struggling on Tuesday to find an approach to saving a golf course in South Williamstown from a threatened shutdown by its owner, Michael Deep, by agreeing to Deep’s request to authorize building a “New England country-style inn” alongside. The Planning Board was scheduled to meet at town hall at 5 p.m. on Wednesday to try and find common ground.

Deep has declared that unless voters at the May 17 Town Meeting approve a zoning change for the 207-acre parcel – considered one of the most scenic in the state because of its view of the 3,491-foot Mount Greylock – he will close the 18-hole public golf course, which he says is losing money, and seek to build affordable housing on the parcel. On Monday, Town Planner Andrew Groff posted on the Planning Board website three options for zoning changes:

OPTION ONE -- Characterized by Groff as supported by Deep, would permit a hotel of unlimited size to be built on a 10-acre parcel on U.S. Route 7 (New Ashford Road) immediately north of the current golf clubhouse. It appeared at last week’s Planning Board meeting to be supported by two board members, Amy Jeschawitz and D. Chris Winters. Deep and his attorney did not respond to email request for comment on Tuesday.

OPTION TWO -- Also discussed at last week’s meeting, would place a square-foot restriction on the size of a hotel and golf buildings within a similar 10-acre parcel. At the April 28 meeting, size limits of from 50,000 to 75,000-square-feet were discussed. By comparison, The 49-room Orchards Inn is 50,000 square feet. There was no agreement at last week’s meeting on what figure to use. At last week’s meeting, the notion of limiting the square-footage appeared supported by three members of the planning board, Sarah Gardner, Ann K. McCallum and Elizabeth McGowan.

OPTION THREE -- Drafted April 28 by board member Gardner. It sets a 50,000-square-foot cap on the size of all building on the Waubeeka site, but allows the size to grow up to 60,000 square feet if Deep agrees to put increasing amounts of land under a perpetual conservation restriction, barring any new building. Gardner said on Tuesday that her proposal was being last-minute reworked.

GUERNSEY BACKS GARDNER PLAN

Former state Rep. Sherwood Guernsey, an attorney who lives adjacent to the golf course, has been among a group of South Williamstown -- including some non-abutting town residents -- meeting and commenting on the Planning Board’s deliberations.

Guernsey emailed the group on Monday saying he felt the Gardner ssquare-foot-limitation option deserved their support. Guernsey wrote that limiting the gross floor area of buildings “is much more protective of a small Country Inn than acreage; if we give a developer 10 acres, he’ll fill it.” Guernsey also wrote that a hotel bigger than roughly the size of The Orchards “is hardly a reasonably sized country inn that would fit with the beauty of the value, a prized value for all Williamstown residents.”

Deep and his attorney, Stanley Parese, did not respond to email inquiries. A copy of the email inquires send by GreylockNews.com to them may be found at THIS LINK.

All three proposals include some form of conservation restriction on a 67-acre wooded parcel that is part of the Waubeeka, but not used for golf. Options one and two would allow Deep to build the hotel before restricting the 67 acres. The Gardner option would invoke the restriction when a special permit to begin construction is issued. There is also disagreement about whether trees could be cut to allow a solar-panel installation on the 67 acres.

There is also disagreement about whether the protected 67 acres should be governed by the town or a “qualified conservation organization” and whether it should be open to public recreation.

All three proposals define the hotel as including “guest units without kitchens,” implying that units could have multiple rooms and kitchen-like facilities within a room not called a kitchen. It is not clear whether such language would make such units attract for fractional ownership. At the April 28 meeting, Deep’s attorney said “timeshares” were no longer a part of his proposal.

WHAT IS INTENT?

A striking difference among the three proposals is their statement of intent. The Gardner proposal, as made public on Monday, says the zoning change – the “Waubeeka Overlay District” is “intended to preserve the existing golf course by allowing new income-producing uses on the property and allowing for open space.”

Indeed, it has been a focus of Deep’s advertising supporting his development bid that his desire is to preserve the golf course and the related jobs.

The other two proposals, including the one said by the town to be supported by Deep, declare the zoning change is to “permit and encourage redevelopment at the Waubeeka property” to preserve most of it as a community recreational and open-space asset that is consistent with the South Williamstown Historic District and is “encouraging the reuse and enhancement of an existing economic asset.” They do not mention preserving a golf course.

TOWN COUNSEL IN THE LOOP

Groff, the town planner, said on Tuesday that the town’s attorney has been reviewing and advising on various iterations of the zoning change, and “based on the guidance received from counsel I believe both staff requested drafts (Options 1 and 2) are legally sound documents.”

April 28, 2016

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The Planning Board is poised to recommend next week that voters approve a zoning change that would allow a 60,000-70,000 square foot “country inn” resort alongside the Waubeeka Golf Links. The developer withheld a decision on whether to agree to the building size limitation.

There would be no specific number of guest units or rooms in the zoning revision, under the plan favored by three of five board members – Sarah Gardner, Elizabeth McGowan and Ann K. McCallum – leaving it up to a developer the interior layout and uses within the total square footage.

After hearing the developer’s attorney, public testimony and discussing among themselves for more than two hours, the five-member board found itself lacking unanimity on whether to either specify a square-foot size limit on the building, or set a limitation of 10 acres on the total footprint of resort and golf-course buildings.

So they instructed Town Planner Andrew Groff to come up with two documents – one taking each approach -- and scheduled a meeting for Wed., May 4, at 5 p.m. at Town Hall to decided one way or the other.

By the end of Thursday night’s meeting, it appeared three three members of the board were ready to go with a square-foot limitation and the other two –D. Chris Winters and Amy C. Jeschawitz -- were uncommitted. Whether it will be 60,000 or 70,000 square feet or even 75,000 square feet -- appeared still a matter of discussion.

The board is working toward a vote on whether to recommend adoption an amendment to an article on the May 17 Town Meeting warrant. The amendment would replace the language in a Citizens Petition placed on the meeting warrant by supporters of developer Michael Deep.

DEEP ACCEPTS 67-ACRE CONSERVATION RESTRICTION

Deep’s attorney, Stan Parese, appeared to surprise the board and some audience members when he announced during an introductory presentation that Deep was prepared to commit to putting a permanent conservation restriction on 67 acres of the 207-acre golf-course property, which sits in a valley cited as one of the most scenic in the state. The 67 acres is presently wet and wooded.

The decision was praised by a number of speakers, including botanist Pamela B. Weatherbee, who owns an adjacent parcel. “I find the idea of a conservation restriction for the 67 acres very, very attractive because it is with other protected lands,” said Weatherbee. She called the 67-acre parcel “very unusual, with many springs.”

Parese said Deep would like the conservation restriction to permit development of a well and underwater thermal heating resources as well as electricity-generating solar panels if possible. Some speakers expressed concern about having to cut trees – which sequester carbon dioxide – to install solar panels. Weatherbee said solar might not be compatible with a conservation restriction. Parese said if that turned out to be the case, Deep would still go along with the restriction.

There were these additional highlights at the meeting:

Selectman Hugh Daley, in testimony, urged the Planning Board not to be fixed on requiring a conservation restriction on more than 67 acres in exchange for supporting the hotel zoning -- given that Deep was agreeing to not develop homes on the golf course.

Parese said the Deep was willing to limit the development footprint to 10 acres. He said he would have to consult his client’s architect – David Westall – to determine if they felt an overall size limit of 60,000-70,000 square feet was economically feasible. By comparison, the current 128-room Williams Inn is about 70,000 square feet and the 49-room Orchards Inn is about 49,000 square feet. Williams College’s proposed inn at the foot of Spring Street is planned as 60 rooms and 49,575 square feet.

Parese also said the developer had abandoned language that would have specified application of the state’s timeshare development law to the project. “So everybody who’s been saying a 40-acre, timeshare resort – it’s gone,” Parese said.

Presently, Waubeeka is in a 2.5-acre residential zoning district. If votes approve the hotel overlay district, Parese said “my client is in for a long ride, he’s losing money all the way, but he’s willing to see it through” to starting of construction estimated in 2020 after lining up development partners, design, zoning and planning final approvals and financing.

Numerous speakers, both public and among the board, declared support for the objective of creating a development opportunity that could sustain the 18-hole public golf course that has been in operation for a half century. “And it would be beneficial to the town to have some increased employment and taxes,” said Sherwood Guernsey, an attorney and former state representative who’s home abuts the golf course. He said the challenge was to find a balance between fostering economic development and not threatening too much open space.

Both Guernsey and public speaker Foster Goodrich asserted “frustration” that some advertisements placed by Deep citing tax and other economic benefits of the proposed project appeared to them to be inflated. Parese said he was confident in the numbers and said they could be made more accurate once the details of the project are clearer.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Developer Michael Deep might be overestimating the tax benefits to the town of his proposed 120-dwelling-unit “country inn” proposal at the Waubeeka Golf Links, data from the town and the Williams Inn suggest. But it's hard to be sure because the developer has so far not provided information to the public about his calculations.

In advertisements on Facebook and the Time Warner cable system, and in written materials, Deep has asserted that “an estimated $500,000 per year in local tax revenue will be generated when the new facility is in operation.”

As a benchmark, the 128-room Williams Inn paid $64,388.92 in real-estate and personal property taxes in the last full reported tax year, according to figures provided to GreylockNews.com by Town Manager Jason Hoch. Those figures are based upon an assess value of $3,524,100 for the inn property.

The Williams Inn most recently paid $120,000-a-year in room taxes and $9,000 in food-and-beverage taxes to the state, according to Carl T. Faulkner, who co-owned and ran with his wife the Williams Inn until their retirement and sale to Williams College last year.

While there have been estimates from Deep that his project might cost $45 million, it’s not clear that figure would have the most significant bearing on the property taxes it pays, town officials say. More critical is its business success.

Williamstown assesses hotels and motels based on industry-standard methodology knows as the income-capitalization approach, according to Town Assessor William Barkin. “Which takes a property’s net income before debt service and converts it into an indicator of value.” (a complete description from Barkin of the method appears at the bottom of this blog post)

Given their similar size, and presuming similar levels of success, a Waubeeka project of the size suggested by Deep would pay a total of less than $200,000 in taxes on an apples-to-apples basis with the Williams Inn – and a percentage of the room taxes are retained by the state.

Deep and his attorney have not responded to a request for detail about methodology or assumptions for the $500,000 estimate. However, Deep is scheduled to appear May 9 before the Williamstown Finance Committee to explain the proposed project’s economic impact.

COMPARISON TO WILLIAMS COLLEGE PROPOSAL

Last week, Williams College official James Kolesar circulated to the public a “Q&A on the Williams Inn Project” – the college’s proposal to raze the current inn after constructing a new, 60-100-room hotel at the base of Spring Street. In his Q&A, Kolesar said “we estimate that the net effect will be an annual addition of $60,000 in property tax and another $50,000 in room tax, bring the net effect of the Williams Inn to approximately $125,000 a year in property taxes and approximately $260,000 a year in room and meal taxes (a portion of which goes to the state).

ASSESSOR’S METHODOLOGY

Here is the rest of assessor Barkin’s explanation of valuing hotels, as provided to GreylockNews.com:

“Briefly put, the appraisal consists of first ascertaining the potential gross income from all sources then subtracting out income loss due to vacancy; then all expenses, to arrive at a net operating income. This net operating figure is then divided by a mathematical factor known as the Capitalization Rate, which is the weighted cost of the invested capital that takes the form of mortgage debt and equity. The resulting figure is the estimate of value.

“For property tax purposes in Williamstown, all hotel/motel reported income and expense data is analyzed to produce an equalized “rate” schedule which is then applied to all of the hospitality properties. Individual business enterprise value or “good will” is eliminated from the analysis. This methodology preserves uniformity and consistency when assessing “like” properties. Thus, the town does not subsidizes establishments for poor management nor penalize those with superior management."

April 27, 2016

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The owner of the 207-acre Waubeeka Golf Links in South Williamstown, set in a valley with one of the most celebrated views in Massachusetts, will go before the planning board Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Town Hall and argue against any permanent "conservation-restriction" guarantee that any of the property will remain forever open -- as well as any size limitation on an up-to-120-"guest unit" country inn.

Two weeks ago, Town Manager Jason Hoch – seeking a compromise between a majority of planning-board members and developer Michael Deep, offered language that would impose a legal conservation restriction on at least 67 acres of the parcel, and more than that as the size of a proposed 120-room country-inn development grew. But in changes to Hoch’s draft made public on Wednesday by Deep’s attorney, Stan Parese, the language about conservation restrictions is removed.

Meanwhile, Planning Board member Ann McCallum was described by Hoch as working on her own adjustments to Hoch’s “compromise” proposal. Both Hoch’s proposal and Parese’s revisions represent proposed amendments to a “citizens petition” warrant article which will be before voters at the May 17 Town Meeting.

A reduction to 10 acres in the size of the parcel (with the overall 207 acres) on which the country-inn structures would have to be constructed.

A numerical ceiling of 120 “guest units” – all “without kitchens” on the development. Each unit could be multiple rooms. Also, the Parese proposal eliminates any maximum square-footage for the inn structures. Hoch has proposed a maximum of 50,000 square feet – about the same size as The Orchards Inn.

An agreement that “no dwelling units” could be built elsewhere on the golf course other that as part of the country-inn development, once a developer obtains – and maintains – a special permit for the country inn. However, if Deep is unable to put together an inn-development package, he could revert to closing the golf course and developing housing lots.

Acceptance of Hoch’s definition of a country inn as “an establishment where overnight transient sleeping accommodations are provided to lodgers in one or more, but not to exceed 120, guest units without kitchens.” A restaurant, gathering and banquet facilities and accessory recreational facilities such as a swimming pool or hiking trails would be permitted.

April 22, 2016

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Ads targetted to local users are appearing on Facebook promoting a developer's proposal for an up-to-120 room "country inn" on up to 10 acres of the 207-acre Waubeeka golf course in South Williamstown.

The ads provide a link to a PDF document which lays out what appears to be developer Michael Deep's latest iteration of his proposal -- scaled back from a proposal his supporters have asked Williamstown Town Meeting to approve on May 17. The much-bigger proposal is still officially on the Town Meeting warrant, however.

The "fact sheet" asserts the "60 new jobs" will be added to Williamstown if a country inn is built. The Facebook ads link to a Facebook business page which contains messages promoting the project such as:

"Did you know...The Country Inn and Spa proposal is expected to generate an estimated $500,000 per year in local tax revenue when the new facility is in operation."

Deep has been asked by this writer for substantiation of the mathematics for such assertions as well as others made in earlier advertisements placed on the Time Warner cable system that serves Williamstown. In addition, the Williamstown Finance Committee had granted him time at its next meeting on Monday, May 9 to make his case for an assertion of financial benefits to the town if he is granted a zoning change to build the hotel.

Meanwhile, town officials have proposed a modified zoning-overlay proposal for the South Williamstown area that includes Waubeeka, and members of the Planning Board are expected to discuss that, and possibly recommend or reject it to Town Meeting, at their public meeting next Thurs., April 28.

April 12, 2016

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The developer of a proposed timeshare development in one of the most scenic spots in Massachusetts signaled displeasure on Tuesday with moves to require that he commit to permanent open space in exchange for a zoning change to permit his country-inn hotel idea.

“Frankly we’re not enthusiastic about the idea of any conservation restriction,” said attorney Stan Parese, lawyer for developer Michael Deep. He cited a development in Lenox, which was given authority to build 164 condominiums. Parese said there is no way Deep would agree to conserve the entire golf course. He said that was, "not economic."

Parese’s remarks, as Deep stood alongside, came immediately after a meeting of the Williamstown Planning Board at which the zoning change was discussed. (Read the text of Parese’s recorded remarks at the bottom of this post).

Deep’s Waubeeka Land LLC bought for $1.2 million the 207-acre Waubeeka Golf course in 2014. The 18-hole course and restaurant, both open to the public, are losing money and will be closed, Deep has said, unless he receives favorable rezoning to develop a hotel on the property. (See earlier posts for background)

When he reached an impasse with the Planning Board in January, Deep’s supporters obtained signatures of 20 voters to put a citizen-petition warrant article on the May 17 Town Meeting warrant with a zoning change permitting a time-share hotel on up to 40 acres of the golf course. On Monday, Town Manager Jason Hoch proposed a significant amendment to the citizens’ article. (READ TEXT)

Williamstown voters will decide at Town Meeting whether to consider or table to zoning change.

At Tuesday’s meeting, board Chair Amy C. Jeschawitz said there would be no public-comment period so that board members could talk in public among themselves. After discussing the matter, the board scheduled a public hearing on the zoning change for Thurs., April 28, at 7 p.m.

The board voted 3-2 last month against recommending recommend voters approve the zoning change in the form Deep’s supporters put on the Town Meeting warrant. In Tuesday’s discussion, it appeared the split is continuing. The two-vote minority – Jeschawitz and member D. Chris Winters – argued that Deep should not be required to surrender rights for residential development in exchange for getting the hotel project authorized.

The other three board members – Sarah Gardner, Ann K. McCallum and Elizabeth McGowan, expressed the view that two-thirds of the town will be unlikely to approve a hotel at Waubeeka without at least some permanent conservation easement in trade.

“We want to keep our applicant happy with the permission for an inn of a certain size, we want to keep the long term viability of the golf course for the golf-course people and we also want to protect the scenic and environmental,” said McGowan at the end of the discussion. “And we have to keep this in mind because this is the only way this is going to pass at town meeting.”

Here is a transcription of Parese’s recorded remarks at Town Hall following Tuesday’s Planning Board discussion of the Waubeeka zoning-change proposal.

“Frankly we’re not enthusiastic about the idea of any conservation restriction. The basic tradeoff which is being ignored over and over and you can, everybody has become an expert in town so everybody can do there own research. When there are permanent conservation restrictions there are sales of residential units. That’s been negotiated out of this. Compare this, pull out the Cranwell [Eds: a Lenox golf-course development] restriction and read it. It’s 164 condominiums for 66 percent open space. We’re talking about 95 – 96 percent permanent restriction with no residential sales at all. We do not exist in an economic vacuum in Williamstown. This dialogue needs to snap out of it because it’s not going to continue.”

Here are excerpts of some remarks by Planning Board members at Tuesday’s meeting:

Chris Winters:

“This is what we are taking, potentially . . . a business that serves the public, employs people in town, pays taxes. This is what we are teaching potentially by having such a transaction as your suggest.”

Sarah Gardner:

“I just want to clarify that we’re not taking away any rights. They’re asking for new rights to do a commercial development and in exchange this bylaw that the town manager wrote asks for an exchange so there is a balance of development and conservation on the property. It’s a exchange that’s come up because the bylaw says, the bylaw has always said that there is striving to find a balance between conservation and development on the property. That’s always been in there.”

Chris Winters:

“So an exchange, a negotiation. A win win. Are we moving toward achieving that? It sounds like these arbitrary numbers we are throwing around, and we haven’t heard from the applicant so I have no idea. But it sounds like we are not moving toward a (balance). We are creating a demand that will not be a negotiation as much as a demand.”

Amy Jeschawitz:

“At this very moment as it stands it is [zoned] RR2. By a special permit someone could come in and put a nursing home on that property at this moment, without a conservation restriction, mind you, without opting to conserve anything they could use all of that land if it was approved.”

Sarah Gardner:

“[But] the owner has said he wants to keep the golf course there and open so it doesn’t feel overly restrictive to me to say, to put it, to preserve the golf course because the applicant has always said the whole goal of this project is to keep the golf course open and we all want to keep the golf course open . . . the [town manager’s proposed] bylaw seems to codify what they have been saying the want.”

Amy Jeschawitz:

“I think the view of forcing them to put it in conservation to get what the need to do the project as opposed to giving them an adequate amount to do the project with an option of getting more by putting land in conservation. Those are two different things. And I think that is where we are on the board right now between our views. We have an option vs., I don’t want to say coerced, I want to say requiring, a requirement.”

Elizabeth McGowan:

“So well said. Point well taken. What we’re trying to do is create an amendment that can be made on the floor that will pass by a two-thirds vote at town meeting and we’ve heard from various, we’ve heard from the applicant in public hearing and heard from people in the neighborhood who want to preserve the golf course. So basically we want to support the development of an inn that provides for the long-term viability of the golf course because that is what the citizens seem to want and need.

“But there is another group that wants to protect our scenic and environmental area as well and continue to preserve that legacy and it seems that to make everybody happy there has to be some sort of protection put in at some point in this bylaw. It doesn’t seem like we’re there yet or are entirely in agreement at this point. We don’t have the number of square feet that we think a country inn and all the attendant necessary rooms, banquet halls and the rest of the support buildings for the golf course itself, sheds for keeping golf carts etc. Maybe we do have to expand this 20,000square-foot number.

“And so we want to keep our applicant happy with the permission for an inn of a certain size, we want to keep the long-term viability of the golf course for the golf-course people and we also want to protect the scenic and environmental. So we have three things that we are working in here, in mind here. And we have to keep this in mind because this is the only way this is going to pass at town meeting. So we can sit here and quibble about what we should put, whether it should be this size in conservation right now or that size but I think we just have to keep the big picture of those important three aspects of this project in mind as we go forward at this point.”

Proposal would trade open space for hotel building rights

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Town officials are pitching in to help draft a zoning change which would permit a developer to put a "country inn" in South Williamstown -- on a parcel considered one of the most scenic in Massachusetts because of its views of the 3,492-foot Mount Greylock.

Developer Michael Deep and his supporters say the inn could save a money-losing 18-hole public golf course from being closed and turned into house lots. They say it will produce jobs and taxes for the town. Neighbors and some other opponents say Deep's proposals to date are too vague, too large and run counter to the town's master plan calling for preserving open space.

"Views from the Route 7 corridor in South Williamstown are recognized as among the finest in Massachusetts," Thomas Por, northwest/northern Berkshires manager for the Trustees of Reservations wrote in a letter to the editor published April 12 by The Berkshire Eagle, adding: "A 1982 Massachusetts inventory gave this scenic landscape an A."

On Monday, Town Manager Jason Hoch made public a proposal that will be submitted to the Williamstown Planning Board for consideration at an upcoming meeting. The proposal is designed to replace a Town Meeting warrant article backed by Deep and 20 citizens to develop up to 40 acres of the 207-acre Waubeeka Golf links with a timeshare lodging resort of undetermined size. "It reflects an amalgamation of the Planning Board's original work, the petitioner's [Mike Deep's] draft, and subsequent input from both the petitioner and concerned residents, reflecting through the prims of our own professional experience," Hoch wrote in an email accompanying the proposal. Also on Monday, selectmen tabled their consideration of the Deep bylaw proposal as originally submitted.

Hoch wrote that he hopes the proposal would be a "refreshed jumping off point for the Planning Board and interested parties to consider at public meetings" between now and Town Meeting on May 17. At Town Meeting, voters will have the opportunity to consider or table Deep supporters' original petition, or amend it with language from Hoch's proposal or elsewhere.

Hoch's proposal, drafted with the help of Town Planner Andrew Groff and at least one Planning Board member, proposes granting zoning rights for a "country inn" of up to three stories and not more than 50,000 square feet in size -- a restriction that suggests a facility in the 60-80-room size. However, if Deep or a future developer seeks permission to construct a facility of that size, they would be required to agree to put all but 20 acres of the golf-course property under a permanent deed restriction limiting its use to open-space recreation (including golf) or agriculture under the control of the town or an organization such as the Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation. Also, the land would have to be freely open to the public for passive recreational use.

If a country inn of 20,000 or more square feet was build, a minimum of 67 acres would have to be put under a conservation restriction. For each one-thousand square feet of additional construction, another four acres would have to be added to conservation. In addition, the town manager's draft eliminates any reference to the "timeshare" form of ownership.

In addition, a developer of a country inn would have to forever extinguish any right to build single-family homes on the property.

The proposal defines a country inn as "an establishment where overnight transient sleeping accommodations are provided to lodgers in one or more guest units without kitchens." It continues: "Country inns ahve common sitting and dining areas and may include a restaurant which may be open to the general public." It says a country inn may include a swimming pool, hiking trails and recreational facilities and "areas to accommodate social evens or gatherings, e.g., conferences and weddings."

Hoch's proposal comes as citizens continue to comment on Deep's original proposal in letters to the editor, on social media and in other forms. On Monday, Tela Zasloff, editor of The Greylock Independent newsletter and website emailed to selectmen an analysis of Deep's proposal by Foster Goodrich, president of School Guard Glass, Inc., of Adams, and a Bennington, Vt., resident who grew up in Williamstown. Goodrich says he has been directly involved with over $5 billion worth of vertical construction projects across the country as a builder and developer.

April 03, 2016

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- The night before a contested election, the Williamstown Finance Committee is scheduled to hear a pitch from developer Michael Deep at its next meeting for his proposed timeshare hotel development at the 200-acre Waubeeka Golf Links site in South Williamstown.

Deep purchased the 18-hole public golf course two years ago for $1.2 million and is now seeking permission to use 40 acres to build what he terms a New England Country in with "fractional" units under the state's timeshare law.

The Finance Committee posted on Thursday a notice showing the presentation time for Deep and his attorney, Stan Parese, at its Monday, May 9, meeting, starting at 7:30 p.m. in the Town Hall. That is the night before the town election, in which six people are vying for two open seats on the Planning Board, with which Deep has tussled.

Finance Committee Chairman Michael Sussman, in an email, said Deep had requested the time and invited other interested parties to present views about the Deep proposal to the Finance Committee. Deep does not have any specific proposal before the Finance Committee. But he has been running advertisements on local cable television which make assertions about its financial benefits to the town and now he apparently wants a forum to backup his assertions.

March 23, 2016

CORRECTION: This post was updated on May 9 to correct a reference in the third-to-last paragraph to state that Deep's proposal at the time of writing sought up to not more than 40 acres for development.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Four out of five candidates vying for two seats on the Williamstown Planning Board will be on hand tonight (Wednesday) from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. to present their platforms and credentials to voters in a forum that will also be telecast live on WilliNet, the town's public-access cable channel. A fifth candidate, Sarah Gardner, is providing a pre-taped video statement because of a schedule conflict.

The Williamstown Planning Board Candidates Forum was organized by The Greylock Independent and will take place in the auditorium of the Williamstown Elementary School. The public is invited to attend. "We are hoping to telecast the discussion live on either Channel 16 or 17 on WilliNet, but for technical reasons, that may not be possible," said town resident and Greylock Independent member Bill Densmore, who will serve as moderator. "So if Williamstown voters want to ask questions, they should try to be there."

Meanwhile, the town is working to craft a proposal that both Deep and two-thirds of the town would vote for. Deep has made six points about his project. And he has exchanged thoughts with this writer. Declaring that if he doesn't get the zoning he wants, he'll build 120 units of affordable housing at Waubeeka.

For the forum, each candidate was asked to submit (1) a 300-500 word candidate statement —whatever you want to say—plus (2) a short bio statement. At the forum, candidates will each make a 90-second statement on why they are running. Each candidate will be invited to direct one question to all or one fellow candidate. Densmore will ask one or two questions, and will forward questions from email, Tweets or from Williamstown residents in the audience.

The current Planning Board is embroiled in controversy over a possible time-sharing hotel development in South Williamstown proposed by North Adams entrepreneur and landlord Michael Deep.

Candidates for election to the two years which remain of one five-year term are Chris Kapiloff, Anne Hogeland and Bruce MacDonald

Candidates for election to one full five-year seat are Sarah Gardner and Susan Puddester. Candidate Lindsay Errichetti decided this week to withdraw her candidacy.

Gardner is currently serving by Nov. 30 appointment of the selectmen and planning board after the elected member, Carol Stein-Payne, resigned part-way through her five-year term. However, Gardner, a lecturer and associate director of the Williams College Center for Environmental Studies, has filed seeking election to a full five-year seat currently held by Williams College art-history professor Elizabeth McGowan, who is not seeking re-election to that seat. Thus there is no elected incumbent running for either seat, one of which is for a full five years and the other of which is for a partial term.

Gardner was appointed by 5-4 vote. In March, the Planning Board split, 3-2, with Gardner in the majority joined by Planning Board members McGowan and Ann McCallum, to give a thumbs-down recommendation to voters on Deep's proposal. Because Deep is not a Williamstown resident, Deep's attorney Stan Parese obtain signatures of 19 other town residents and filed by citizen petition a Town Meeting warrant article that would change zoning for a portion of the Waubeeka Land LLC property so that he can pursue what he has called a "country inn" lodging development on at least up to 40 acres.

The planning board does not "approve" zoning changes, and doesn't have a process for doing so. It does have a process for drafting proposed zoning changes, and that has been short-circuited by Deep's warrant article, because, according to Deep, he grew tired of waiting for the Planning Board review process to play out.

Wednesday's forum will not focus exclusively on the Waubeeka controversy, Densmore said. "We hope candidates will articulate their views on how the town should manage its zoning and planning, and their visions for the future of land and buildings use in town," he said.